Tick-filling machine



1967 LE ROY E. MOULTHROP 3,351,106

TICK-FILLING MACHINE Filed Sept. 50, 1966 INVENTOR LEROY E. MOULTHROP 51 ROBERT J. PATCH ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,351,106 TICK-FILLING MACHINE Le Roy E. Moulthrop, Lynwood, Califi, assignor of twenty-five percent to Robert J. Patch, Chevy Chase, Md. Filed Sept. 30, 1966, Ser. No. 583,170 4 Claims. (Cl. Bil-67) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A machine for filling ticks with feathers has a rotor that rotates about a horizontal axis in a chamber having a cylindrical bottom wall. The bottom wall has specially formed openings for discharging feather dust and dirt. The feathers leave the chamber through an opening having a special detent arrangement. A specially shaped bafile is disposed above that opening, and a screened inlet for outside air opens on opposite sides of the bafile. The feathers are discharged through a blower and out a nozzle into a new tick.

The present invention relates to tick-filling machines, more particularly to machines designed to fluff feathers and to insert them in an air-permeable bag such as a mattress tick or pillow tick.

The present invention concerns a machine of the same general type as in my Patent No. 2,794,454, June 4, 1957. Reference is made to my earlier patent for disclosure of the pertinent prior art in this field, which need not be further described here.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a tick-filling machine in which new or used feathers may be gently fluffed without pulver-ization.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a tick-filling machine adapted to prevent the formation or escape of feather dust to the outside air.

The invention also contemplates the provision of a tickfilling machine having a processing chamber, in which the feathers can be quickly and easily evacuated from the chamber.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a tick-filling machine having improved means for separating feathers from foreign material.

Finally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tick-filling machine which will be relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture, easy to operate, maintain and repair, and rugged and durable in use.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view from the outside of a tick-filling machine according to the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view, with parts broken away, showing a portion of the interior of the treatment chamber of the present invention;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view, with parts broken away, of the machine of the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view of the bottom portion of the treatment chamber of the present invention;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational crosssectional view of a portion of FIG. 2; and

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged fragment of FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawing in greater detail, there is shown a tick-filling machine comprising a generally rectangular casing 1 in which is provided a treatment chamber 3 having a semi-cylindrical bottom wall 5 and a flat upright front wall 7 and a fiat upright rear wall 9. A

3,351,106 Patented Nov. 7, 1967 pair of vertical side walls 11 bound the upper portion of chamber 3 and are integral with and tangential to cylindrical bottom wall 5.

Mounted in chamber 3 for rotation about a horizontal axis coaxially of wall 5 is a rotor 13 having radially extending arms 15 that terminate endwise in brushes 17 that extend perpendicular to arms 15 and parallel to the side and bottom walls of chamber 3. The bristles of brushes 17 extend radially outwardly of the axis of rotor 13; and an electric motor 19 mounted behind rear wall 9 of casing 1 turns the rotor 13 at a desirably slow rate, counterclockwise as seen in FIG. 2.

The structure and function of rotor 13 may be the same as that described in my earlier patent and need not be further described at this time.

Sterilizing lamps 21, for example in the form of three 4-watt ozone bulbs, are provided along the upper edge of one of side walls 11, preferably the one shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, for germicidal purposes. It is of course to be understood that as rotor 13 turns, the feathers in chamber 3 will be fluffed and agitated and continuously exposed to the germicidal action of lamps 21.

The feathers will also be separated from feather dust and other foreign material, which falls to the bottom of the chamber and passes through holes 23. Holes 23 are formed by striking tongues 25 downwardly as seen in FIGS. 2 and 4, in a direction such that the tongues 25 are inclined downwardly opposite to the direction of rotation of the brushes 17 as they pass over bottom wall 5, that is, downwardly to the left as seen in FIG. 4, it being understood that the brushes 17 will be traveling to the right as they pass through the portion of chamber 3 which is shown in FIG. 4.

A space is provided for collecting the dust and other foreign material that passes through holes 23, and this space is bounded by a shelf 27 best seen in FIG. 4. Shelf 2.7 has vertical side walls 29 that are fixedly secured to the bottom wall 5 and a horizontal bottom wall 31 and a vertical rear wall 35. Shelf 27 is open at the front and is bounded on its upper side by the portion of bottom wall 5 that has holes 23.

A drawer 35 slides into shelf 27. Drawer 35 has side walls 37 and a bottom wall 39 and a rear wall 41, all of which slide snugly in and against the adjacent walls of shelf 27. Drawer 35 is open at its top to receive dust and other foreign material that falls through holes 23. In addition, drawer 35 has an upright front wall 43 that overlies the adjacent portions of front wall 7 of casing 1 a substantial distance in all directions; and a sealing strip (not shown) is carried by these outwardly projecting portions of front wall 43, that seals against the subjacent portions of front wall 7 when the drawer is closed, thereby to eliminate the leakage of feather dust from out the front of the machine.

A handle 45 is provided on drawer 35 for ease of removal and insertion of the drawer in shelf 27; and catches 47 carried by front wall 43 on either side of the drawer selectively engage with opposite edges of front wall 43 of the drawer releasably to retain the drawer in the assembled relationship shown in FIG. 1.

Casing 1 is provided with a horizontal cover 49 that is in two portions. A smaller portion 51 covers most of chamber 3, while a larger portion 53 covers the rest of the top of the machine. Portions 51 and 53 have downwardly depending flanges 55 that fit snugly down over all four upper sdies of the walls of casing 1. A horizontal hinge 57 that extends from front to rear swingably interconnects portions 51 and 53 with each other. However, fasteners 59 in the form of small bolts extend through the flanges 55 of portion 53 and into the upper ends of the adjacent side walls of casing 1, so as to retain portion 53 releasably fixed in a position in which it closes most of the upper end of the casing. At the same time, portion 51 remains free to swing vertically about hinge '7, and to this end a handle 61 is provided on the upper side of the free end of portion 51. Portion 51 can thus be readily swung up to admit feathers into chamber 3, and then swung down to close the chamber. A sealing strip (not shown) is provided on all four upper edges of the sides of easing 1, that seals against the underside of cover 49 to prevent the escape of feather dust. A screened air inlet 63 is provided in portion 51, adjacent handle 61, to admit air to the chamber 3 during the discharge of the feathers therefrom, as will be explained in greater detail hereinafter.

On the far side of chamber 3 from screened air inlet 63, that is, one the side of chamber 3 which is last swept by brushes 17 before they pass upwardly out of contact with the side walls of the chamber, a bafiie 65 is mounted on and forms a portion of the side wall of the chamber and is comprised of an upwardly diagonally inwardly extending portion 67 and an upwardly diagonally outwardly extending portion 69. Portion 67 is longer and taller than portion 69. Immediately below portion 67, an outlet 71 extends through baffle 65. Outlet opening 71 is of relatively small height and relatively great width, that is, it is horizontally elongated. A plurality of detents 73 extend from the upper side of outlet 71 in a direction downwardly and outwardly, that is, rearwardly away from chamber 3, and terminate in free ends that are spaced a substantial distance from the nearest portions of baffle 65 or the side walls of the chamber. It has been found that this construction of outlet opening 71 and detents 73 prevents large pieces of foreign material such as pillow ticks and pieces of pillow ticks from passing through the outlet, while at the same time minimum impedance to feathers is offered. In other words, this construction of the outlet is that which is best for separating feathers from large pieces of foreign material.

Conduit means are provided which communicate be tween outlet opening 71 and the outer side of the machine for transferring feathers from chamber 3 to the outside of the machine where they are refilled into pillow or mattress ticks. A centrifugal fan 75 is provided in this conduit means, fan 75 having a casing 77 in which a rotor 79 is mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis perpendicular to the axis of rotor 13. Rotor 79 has the usual blades 81 of a centrifugal fan, which may be of any conventional construction and in the illustrated embodiment are shown as being generally radially outwardly extending. Casing 77 has the usual peripheral outlet 83, the feathers being drawn by the action of fan 75 from chamber 3 through outlet opening 71 into the central portion of fan 75, through casing 77 that forms a portion of the aforementioned conduit means and between blades 81, and thence through outlet 83.

From fan outlet 83, the feathers entrained in a stream of air pass out of the casing 1 through a nozzle 85 that is generally horizontal at its portion by which it is connected to casing 1, but which then inclines downwardly and narrows to a downwardly directed circular portion 87 having a free lower end resiliently surrounded by a garter spring 89. A fresh pillow or mattress tick 91 is open at one end enough to receive circular portion 87 inside it, and garter spring 89 is disposed about the opening of tick 91 as seen in FIG. 1, releasably to retain the tick on nozzle 85. A pull on tick 91 will snap garter spring 89 off the open end of the filled tick, to permit removal of the filled tick from the machine, after which the open end can be sewed up.

A screened air inlet 93 is provided which opens not only into the casing 3 adjacent outlet opening 71, but also into the casing 77 of the centrifugal fan adjacent outlet opening 71. Air from the outside is thus drawn into the casing 3 adjacent the outlet opening and the conduit means that communicate between outlet opening 71 and the outside of the machine, adjacent outlet opening 71; and it has been found that this supply of air from the outside through inlet 93 to these two points along the path of the feathers is very beneficial in promoting the rapid discharge of the feathers through outlet opening 71. It has also been found that the shape of baffle 65, as described, not only promotes the feed of air to these two portions of the path of the feathers, but also promotes the rapid discharge of the feathers through outlet opening 71.

An electric motor 95 within casing 1 operates fan 75. Appropriate controls 97, accessible from the front of the machine, are provided for controlling motors 19 and 95 and the lamps 21, and also if desired for setting the cycle time. It is of course to be understood that it is preferred that the machine of the present invention operate according to an automatic time cycle.

It will also be noted that the machine is mounted on casters 99 for easy transportation from One place to another.

In operation, a clean tick 91 is first inserted on nozzle 85 as described above and garter spring 89 snapped over its open end to retain it on the nozzle. A soiled tick whose feathers are to be renovated and reinserted in the clean tick is then cut open, and portion 51 of cover 49 is raised and the feathers are dumped into chamber 3. The old tick can then be discarded, because its inner surface is clogged with dirt and feather dust and no practical use can be made of it.

Cover portion 51 is closed and controls 97 are actuated to start an antomatie timed cycle. During the first portion of this cycle, the rotor 13 turns and the lamps 21 are lit. The feathers are agitated in the chamber and fluffed and exposed to the germicidal action of the lamps. Fan is not in operation, so that feathers do not pass through outlet opening 71. At the end of a predetermined amount of treatment in chamber 3, the motor 95 is actuated and fan 75 operates in a direction to draw air out of chamber 3 and into the conduit means and through the blades of the fan. Rotor 13 continues to turn and continues to introduce feathers to the opening 71. The air that passes through opening 71 is made up in part by air passing through screened air inlet 63 and in part by air entering through screened air inlet 93. The described location of these various air inlets has been found to result in a very rapid discharge of feathers from the chamber during this portion of the cycle.

The feathers entrained in the air emerge from nozzle into the clean tick 91, in which the renovated feathers are left behind and the air which carried them passes through the air-permeable walls of the woven fabric of the tick and into the ambient atmosphere. The woven airpermeable material of the tick, however, serves as a virtually perfect filter for feathers and feather dust, so that essentially no dust is added to the atmosphere in the vicinity of the machine.

When the chamber 3 is substantially free from feathers, as can be seen by inspection through the transparent front window of the chamber, the cycle comes to an end and rotor 13 comes to rest as well as fan 75. T hereupon, the clean tick 91 filled with renovated feathers can be unsnapped from the garter spring as described above and the opening can be sewed up on a sewing machine. Another clean tick 91 can then be put back on the nozzle for the next cycle of operation.

From time to time, drawer 35, in which feather dust and other finely divided foreign material has collected, can be removed and emptied, the sides of the shelf 27 ensuring that essentially no feather dust will be lost to the ambient atmosphere.

In view of the foregoing disclosure, therefore, it will be evident that all of the initially recited objects of the present invention have been achieved.

Although the present invention has been described and illustrated in connection with a perferred embodiment, it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, as those skilled in this art will readily understand. Such modifications and variations are considered to be within the purview and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A machine for filling ticks with feathers, which comprises in combination a chamber having side walls and a cylindrical bottom wall, means for introducing feathers into the chamber, a rotor rotatable in the chamber coaxially with said bottom Wall for agitating feathers in the chamber, a nozzle communicating with the chamber for discharging feathers into a tick, conduit means communicating between the chamber and the nozzle, a blower in said conduit means between the chamber and the nozzle for removing feathers from the chamber and impelling them through the blower and out of the nozzle, said conduit means communicating with the chamber through an opening through one of said side walls, and means for preventing large bodies from passing through said opening and for retaining said large bodies in the chamber, said preventing means comprising at least one detent of a width substantially less than the Width of the opening and extending from said one side wall at the top of the opening downwardly across the opening and being inclined downwardly away from the chamber and away from said one side wall and having a free lower end spaced from but adjacent to the bottom of the openmg.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, said opening being defined by an upright sheet of material, said at least one detent being a finger formed integrally from said sheet and joined to the sheet at the upper margin of the opening.

3. A machine for filling ticks with feathers, which comprises in combination a chamber having side walls and a cylindrical bottom wall, means for introducing feathers into the chamber, a rotor rotatable in the chamber coaxially with said bottom wall for agitating feathers in the chamber, a nozzle communicating with the chamber for discharging feathers into a tick, conduit means communicating between the chamber and the nozzle, a blower in said conduit means between the chamber and the nozzle for removing feathers from the chamber and impelling them through the blower and out of the nozzle, said conduit means communicating with the chamber through an opening through one of said side walls, means defining at least one aperture through a side of the machine into the chamber closely adjacent said opening on opposite sides of said one side wall whereby said at least one aperture is partially disposed within said chamber and partially disposed within said conduit to admit air to the interior of the chamber closely adjacent said opening and into the conduit means closely adjacent said opening to admit air to the conduit means closely adjacent said opening, and screen means over said at least one aperture to prevent the escape of feathers through said at least one aperture when the machine is in operation.

4. A machine for filling ticks with feathers, which comprises in combination a chamber having a cylindrical bottom wall, means for introducing feathers into the chamber, a rotor rotatable in the chamber coaxially with said bottom wall for agitating feathers in the chamber, a nozzle communicating with the chamber for discharging feathers into a tick, conduit means communicating between the chamber and the nozzle, a blower in said conduit means between the chamber and the nozzle for removing feathers from the chamber and impelling them through the blower and out of the nozzle, said conduit means communicating with the chamber through an opening, means defining at least one aperture through a side of the machine to admit air to the interior of the chamber closely adjacent said opening and to admit air to the conduit means closely adjacent said opening, and a battle immediately above said opening, said baflle having a first portion that extends diagonally upwardly in a direction into the chamber and a second portion above said first portion and that extends diagonally upwardly in a direction out of the chamber, said at least one aperture being disposed on opposite sides of said bafiie.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,254,868 1/ 1918 Wallace 209-250 X 1,429,998 9/ 1922 Baker 141-67 X 2,194,487 3/ 1940 Thompson. 2,264,887 12/1941 Otis 34-2 2,420,367 5/1947 Geer et a1. 141-67 X 2,452,935 11/1948 Kemp 141-313 X 2,550,354 4/1951 Jacobsen 222-193 3,081,553 3/1963 Miller 222-193 X FOREIGN PATENTS 9,934 12/1928 Australia. 809,991 12/ 1936 France.

LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner. E. J. EARLS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A MACHINE FOR FILLING TICKS WITH FEATHERS, WHICH COMPRISES IN COMBINATION A CHAMBER HAVING SAID WALLS AND A CYLINDRICAL BOTTOM WALL, MEANS FOR INTRODUCING FEATHERS INTO THE CHAMBER, A ROTOR ROTATABLE IN THE CHAMBER COAXIALLY WITH SAID BOTTOM WALL FOR AGITATING FEATHERS IN THE CHAMBER, A NOZZLE COMMUNICATION WITH THE CHAMBER FOR DISCHARGING FEATHERS INTO A TICK, CONDUIT MEANS COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE CHAMBER AND THE NOZZLE, A BLOWER IN SAID CONDUIT MEANS BETWEEN THE CHAMBER AND THE NOZZLE FOR REMOVING FEATHERS FROM THE CHAMBER AND IMPELLING THEM THROUGH THE BLOWER AND OUT OF THE NOZZLE, SAID CONDUIT MEANS COMMUNICATING WITH THE CHAMBER THROUGH AN OPENING THROUGH ONE OF SAID SIDE WALLS, AND MEANS FOR PREVENTING LARGE BODIES FROM PASSING THROUGH SAID OPENING AND FOR RETAINING SAID LARGE BODIES IN THE CHAMBER, SAID PREVENTING MEANS COMPRISING AT LEAST ONE DETENT OF A WIDTH SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE WIDTH OF THE OPENING AND EXTENDING FROM SAID ONE SIDE WALL AT THE TOP OF THE OPENING DOWNWARDLY AWAY FROM THE CHAMBER AND BEING INCLINED DOWNWARDLY AWAY FROM THE CHAMBER AND AWAY FROM SAID ONE SIDE WALL AND HAVING A FREE LOWER END SPACED FROM BUT ADJACENT TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OPENING. 